 Wilson was born in Halifax, England, probably in 1817, but spent the majority of his life in the United States (to which he moved, initially to Geneva, Illinois, with his family, in 1844), where he died on May 8, 1900, in Sacramento, California.Although originally Baptists, Wilson's family joined the growing Campbellite movement in 1840, but began to distance themselves from the Campbellites while in Geneva.In 1846 Wilson wrote his first letter to another ex-Campbellite John Thomas, as recorded in the latter's magazine "The Herald of the Future Age", agreeing with the Thomas' views on the immortal soul – the initial cause of his break with Campbell.